Piling on New York

At Monday’s state Conference of Mayors and Municipal Officials meeting in Albany, politicians lined up to commiserate and promise aid to localities. But they also ran through a litany of problems facing the state, especially upstate, that sounded like aÂ ode to the Late Great State of New York.

First up was Comptroller Alan Hevesi, who pointed out that upstate’s population has shrunk by some 600,000 people over the decades.

Then came Attorney General and gubernatorial candidate Eliot Spitzer, who noted that the number of congressional represenatives from New York has dropped from 45 in 1940 to 29 as of the 2000 census.

Spitzer was followed by Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno who noted that countless small businesses upstate “shut down, they move out,” due to high taxes. “Seniors can’t wait to get to Florida,” he added.

Later in the day, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver sounded a note of optimism, kind of.

After reiterating the state’s population drain,Â Silver said that with a new governor coming on board next year “we will bring this state back to life.”Â Â Â Â